This week’s major Bollywood release, “English Vinglish,” was highly anticipated as it marks the comeback after 15 years of leading lady Sridevi. English Vinglish, directed by Gauri Shinde, is the story of Shashi Godbole, played by Sridevi, who is looked down on by her husband and daughter for her inability to converse in English. Shashi joins an English-speaking class in her bid for fluency.

The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan in a cameo as well. Sridevi has proved her mettle as an actress, playing a range of roles and delivering hits like “Chandni,” “Lamhe,” “Nagina” and others in the past. So, did she manage to live up to the expectations?

Here is what critics had to say about the movie:

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In a review in Bollywood Hungama, film critic Taran Adarsh is all praises for the movie. He describes the movie as a “remarkable motion picture,” which is “amusing, emotional, heartrending and insightful.” Mr. Adarsh was highly pleased with Sridevi’s performance saying “English Vinglish is unimaginable without Sridevi.”

He was equally impressed with first-time director Gauri Shinde, who according to him directed a near-perfect film with an “oven-fresh concept” and delicate handling of “sensitive and dramatic moments.”

Mr. Adarsh also praised the cinematographer Laxman Utekar for capturing “vibrant colors with dexterity.” He gave the movie four stars out of five.

Meena Iyer of Times of Indiareckoned English Vinglish is “one of the best films of 2012″ that will “strike a chord” with viewers. The movie is “sweet, sensitive and superlative” and will make the audience “laugh, cry and smile,” she writes. Besides praising Sridevi, Ms. Iyer is also pleased with the performances of Shivansh Kotia and Sulabha Deshpande, who play her son and mother-in-law, respectively, in the film.

The soundtrack for the movie, composed by Amit Trivedi, also garnered praise from Ms. Iyer. “The beauty of the soundtrack is that it flows naturally, without disturbing the narrative,” Ms. Iyer notes. She gave the movie four stars out of five.

Aniruddha Guha of Daily News and Analysissays the movie is an “absolute delight.” He further adds: “No scene’s out of place, no character unnecessary and no dialogue forced.” The script is “razor sharp” in Mr.Guha’s opinion and Ms. Shinde successfully manages to portray many realistic moments in the movie. He gave the movie four stars out of five.

Vivek Bhatia of Filmfaresaid the film “portrays the most ordinary aspects of life in an extraordinary manner.” Mr. Bhatia particularly liked the scenes shared between Sridevi and her classmate from the English-speaking class Laurent, played by French actor Mehdi Nebbou. “There are few well-written, delicious scenes which you’d wish would never end,” the review said.

The second half is “a tad bit long,” according to Mr. Bhatia. “But that’s just nitpicking in a film which is near perfect,” he adds.

Others were slightly less enthusiastic.

Livemint’sSanjukta Sharmafound the plot “thin, with the depth of a mediocre television serial.” The director, she reckons, moved along a “linear and predictable graph.” Ms. Sharma was disappointed with the cinematography of the movie. “We see Manhattan through a hurried montage of boring location shots,” she writes. The cinematic techniques of the film were “sorely bereft of imagination.”

However, she was pleased with Sridevi and found her performance to be “one of the most persuasive comebacks of a Bollywood star.” Sridevi was, in her opinion, cute and charismatic. Unlike her past performances, where she was “electrifying,” this time her “emotive skills were a thousand shades more restrained and calculated,” Ms. Sharma writes.

Although, Ms. Sharma found the plot predictable, she praised Ms. Shinde for the “feminist strand” in the story that is “accommodating rather than alienating,” according to her.

In a review for NDTV, film critic Saibal Chatterjee found the movie “reasonably watchable” for the most part but said it “hobbles along on the crutches of all manner of stereotypes.” The premise of the movie is superficial, he said. “This film hinges on an idea that only reinforces the phony notion that a woman, no matter how gifted, must speak fluent English in order to truly assert herself.” Mr. Chatterjee also points out that the writing gets slightly “cheesy at times.”

Nonetheless, he was pleased with the performances of Adil Hussain, who plays Sridevi’s husband in the film; Priya Anand, playing the role of Sridevi’s niece; and Mehdi Nebbou, in addition to Sridevi. Giving the movie two and a half stars out of five, Mr. Chatterjee said the movie would work strictly for those who can discount the film’s oversimplified worldview.

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